It’s halfway between a trench coat and a military coat; the pattern is from the February 2010 Patrones magazine (nº289, model #40). It features a double breasted coat with a “Mao” collar and two-piece 3/4 sleeves.I’ll be using sand colored cotton fabric and half-ball brass buttons (I can’t get enough of them).The pattern sizing in this magazine is 40-44-48; being a patrones size 42, I’ll have to trace a “in between” size, as explained in this post. See you next time around!

Here’s a dress style that in my opinion is never out. I made this dress during my blog hiatus, using the little free time I had available.

Original model:September 2006 BWOF, #114Description: Wrap-over dress with tying belt, features a shirt collar, shoulder tabs, faux flap pockets and three quarter roll-up sleeves with tabs. I cut a 38 European size with no alterations.

Fabric and notions: About 2.5 yards of stable knit (lightweight double knit?), half-ball metal buttons, thin knit fusible interfacing and matching sewing thread. This a great fabric to sew with, because you don’t have to serge-finish the seam allowances. It has just the right amount of elasticity so the dress hugs the body in a flattering way.

This dress is so easy to make and works out wonderfully. Here are a few detail shots:

The sleeve:The chest flaps (faux pockets):The shoulder tabs:(NOTE: the pictures were brightened to enhance the details)

Conclusion: This dress is a winner! It flatters most figure types and it’s classy and elegant. Soon you’ll watch me wearing it over at my other blog! Thank you so much for stopping by!

Yes you guessed right, this is my new sewing room, though it’s not quite yet finished and fully operational, lol!I’m practically settled in the new house, the Internet is on (after going through a few setbacks with the initial installation: I had no internet at the time I moved in but now it seems to be running fine), and the sewing room is furnished so I’m “almost“ ready to get back to Couture et Tricot’s regular blogging schedule (the “almost“ is due to the the extra workload of settling in the new house, cleaning and placing everything in place, besides maintaining the house neat and clean: let’s just say that a house with 3 bedrooms, a big kitchen, a sewing room, three bathrooms, several balconies, a dining/living room, a rooftop terrace, backyard, etc. it’s not exactly same as maintaining and cleaning a small apartment…).So the plan is to resume Couture et Tricot focusing on my craft projects on the making; I’m also planning on starting yet another blog, more focused on my personal style, daily outfits, etc. It will be a “visual blog” (less talk, more pictures) and it will have a different set of rules; due to its personal nature I plan on moderating all the comments and after an initial trial phase, it might become accessible by subscription only (I’m still pondering on this matter). I will not mention any commercial brands unless they sponsor me (the exceptions are of course garments that I made or were made by friends of mine, not belonging to the category of commercial brands). If someone wishes to know the origin of a particular “no named brand” item, I’ll be happy to provide that information by private email, if I can.

I’d like to share some important news for the Portuguese speaking readers: the Burda magazine will be reedited in Portuguese and available in Portugal, Brazil, Angola and Mozambique, YAY! Here’s the Facebook’s webpage if you wish to support it and become a fan!I hope you share my enthusiasm and I promise to come back as soon as I’m able to start sewing again! I'll let you guys know when the new blog is up (soon, I hope)! Big hugs to all, I missed you a lot!